News

King County ExecutiveDow Constantine

King County crews make progress opening and repairing flood-damage roads and levees

January 11, 2009

Summary

As water recedes and river levels drop around the region, King County Road Services Division crews continue making progress repairing and cleaning up county roads hard hit by flood waters. Crews are also making progress on emergency repairs to damaged levees along the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers.

Story

As water recedes and river levels drop around the region, King County Road Services Division crews continue making progress repairing and cleaning up county roads hard hit by flood waters. Crews are also making progress on emergency repairs to damaged levees along the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers.

The breached levee is on the south side of the Tolt River affecting NE 32nd Street near Carnation. Work is expected to be complete by early tomorrow at the latest as crews have been using an excavator and dump trucks to place large rock and fill material to build the levee back up. Repairs may also be necessary to damage on the Holberg Levee on the Tolt, about a mile upstream from the emergency repair.

Emergency repair work is also under way on the Snoqualmie River at the Mason Thorson Extension levee east of North Bend. Work to repair the damage should be completed by tomorrow. Also on the Snoqualmie, there are reports of damage on the McElhoe-Pearson Levee on the right bank. Once crews make emergency repairs to fill in the washed out segments of the levees, work will continue for about a week to shore the levees up around the area.

Flood patrols assessed damage on the Cedar River this afternoon. There are reports of damage to the Belmondo Levee near State Route 169 and to the Jan Road Levee near Maple Valley that will need repair. Crews are also working to repair a broken sewer line at the Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park near Maple Valley.

King County is working with the City of Renton to assess how to best remove a debris jam that is hung up on the Williams Street Bridge in Renton. Crews expect to begin removing the debris tomorrow as river levels drop and will continue to inspect levees and other flood-prevention structures over the next several days as the floodwaters recede.

Currently, the Cedar River is at a Phase IV flood alert level because of controlled releases from an upstream dam, which is operated by the City of Seattle. Flows on the Green and White rivers also remain high because of controlled dam releases by the Army Corps of Engineers. King County flood management staff will continue to monitor conditions.

Roads assessments and repairs

While there are still many roads closed due to flooding, crews are making progress on reopening them. The busy Woodinville-Duvall road reopened Saturday night after completion of major repairs. NE 124th Street between West Snoqualmie Valley Road NE and State Route 203 reopened this afternoon following removal of massive debris and completion of a bridge inspection. The road was not damaged during the flood.

Meanwhile, crews continued work today on numerous other road problems, including:

removing large chunks of asphalt and logs off of Carnation Farms Road near Carnation, a road across the Snoqualmie Valley that remains closed. The damage to this road is significant – an estimated 2,000-foot section of road surface has been damaged. It will likely be a few more days for repairs to be complete.

work on 415th Way in the Uplands area of East King County. Crews have been busy repairing deep ruts, washouts and clearing debris. That work will likely continue for a couple more days. Repairs to gas lines will also need to be made.

debris removal and repairs to Moon Valley Road near Mount Si in the North Bend area. The damage to this road is significant and is cutting off neighborhood access. No estimate as to when the clean up will be complete.

continued repairs on David Powell Road in the Fall City area. This road provides added protection from flooding on the Snoqualmie River.

support in making emergency repairs to damaged levees along the Tolt River.

clearing slides and making temporary repairs to allow access for residents along the Cedar River in South King County. Some examples impacted or damaged roads in this area include Byers Road and 216th Ave. SE off of State Route 169.

Crews have also been contending with several smaller washouts and landslides all across the county and some road crews are also being made available to escort people in areas where neighborhood access has been cut off.

A recorded flood-information hotline is also updated each hour for citizens wanting information in flood areas. The number is 206-296-8200 or 1-800-945-9263. Citizens who need help interpreting flood information should call 206-296-4535 or 1-800-768-7932. Problems on county maintained roads can be reported by calling 206-296-8100or 1-800-KC-ROADS.